1. Field of the Invention
The invention disclosed herein relates generally to fault circuit indicators (“FCIs”) and more particularly to methods, systems, and processes to maximize the benefits of FCIs on an electrical distribution network.
2. Background of the Invention
FCIs have been part of electrical utility distribution networks for few decades. After the fault occurrence, utility personnel normally patrol and inspect the FCIs for visual identification that the fault has been detected by the devices. The majority of the existing FCIs installed during the past few decades did not have any communication device associated with them. Thus, the utility's back office did not have any indication of the location of a fault until the crew visually inspected every device. In addition, these devices did not differentiate between permanent and temporary faults.
The advances in technology and communications have resulted in development of new FCIs with advanced capabilities. Today, FCIs are designed as low-cost sensing devices, which are easily deployed on the utility's power system network. These devices can be easily installed on the power lines by using a standard hot stick, which locks them into place. This is a very desirable feature, because it allows sensors to be easily removed for maintenance or for placement at another position. There are several types of FCI devices that are available on the market today, which differ on the amount and type of information that can be sent back to the utility's back office, and in communication networks used to transmit and receive the data.
Remote indication by FCIs that the fault has occurred, and that a particular FCI has seen the fault, reduces the time it takes a line crew to locate and correct the fault. If the only available information is that the fault has occurred, then a line crew is sent to patrol the areas downstream from the FCI. However, if additional data is available, such as level of fault current and type of fault, power flow software can be used to identify the approximate location of the fault. This procedure can take extra time and in some instances can result in multiple fault locations for the line crew to patrol. As a result, there is a need for a method and system for efficiently placing fault circuit indicators on an electrical grid to reduce the time it takes crews to isolate and repair an electrical fault and associated electrical outages.